Cross My Heart, Sweetheart
by beautyqueenforbes
Summary: April Young was never supposed to know that vampires existed. Actually, she was never supposed to know anything. Perhaps she would've liked it to stay that way, too, but all that went out the window when she stumbled upon her closest friend and had the bright idea to undagger her.


_This is where Rebekah said her brother lived, isn't it?_ April Young asked herself as she cross-checked her phone's usually sketchy GPS and swerved into the extensive driveway of the Mikaelson's mansion. She winced as a rather unpleasant sound came from the tires of her car bouncing over gravel. Her license was brand new and shiny, and she was just getting used to all the 'features' she found came with driving.

She gazed up at the imposing building looming overhead. Rebekah had never mentioned living in a place this nice. She must've been loaded. It made sense in hindsight, though, as no matter how persistent April was, Rebekah would always pick up the tab when they shared a few drinks at the Mystic Grill.

April swallowed nervously, gathering her things. She'd never actually met Rebekah's brother, but she'd heard he'd been at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant with Caroline Forbes. She'd decided to take matters into her own hands then, having been disappointed that she didn't really have a true friend to share the joys of her victory with. Elena and Caroline were okay, but as girls who'd babysat her when she was younger, their pride for April was one thing, on a different level than Rebekah's happiness for her friend would be. Though April had decided that, if her brother hadn't already told her, she'd conveniently omit the little piece of information about Matt Donovan stepping in to be her escort when Jeremy was a no-show.

The driveway was empty, and no artificial lighting was presently visible through the many windows. "Rebekah?" April called tentatively, as she approached the door, rapping her knuckles against the wood. "Rebekah, you there?" No answer came, and against her better judgment, April decided to try the knob before giving up.

Wrapping her petite hand around it, she gave it a firm twist, closed her eyes and prayed for it to be locked, and shoved.

It swung open.

_Who leaves their door open in the middle of the day? _April thought, stepping into the expansive parlor. Even as she moved further into the home, after shutting the door behind her, of course, all she could think was, _This is wrong. This is wrong, and I should go back. If somebody finds me here, I could go to jail. Oh, God, I can't go to jail. I should just turn around and go back right now. This is so, so wrong. _

Still, April's curiosity drove her forward, and she came across what appeared to be a dining room. At the moment, it appeared as though it wasn't very prepared for dining, with yellowed papers displaying somebody's sketches on them. Rebekah had never mentioned being an artist. Maybe it was one of her brother's work? It looked too old, though. It had to have belonged to a parent.

"Rebekah? It's April. I, um, I brought your school work." _Liar._

The dining room appeared to be a dead end. In Mystic Falls, there were plenty of Victorian style homes, with original trap doors built in and left undisturbed. Still, it would look even worse for her to be found prodding around for hidden switches and levers, or hiding inside a secret bunker. April was just about to do the sensible thing and turn around, head home and cut her losses, when a large mass on the floor sent her face to have a one-on-one meeting with the floor.

Dazed and hurting, predominantly in the left side of her face where she'd made contact with solid wood, April pushed herself to a sitting position, and turned to inspect what she'd tripped over, like any sensible person would do. It was a body. A _dead _body.

April screamed.

Even worse, it wasn't just any dead body. It was _Rebekah_. Poor Rebekah, laying there with a big, pointy _stick _coming up out of her chest.

April had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming and throwing a hysterical fit. She'd tripped on her own friend's dead, rotting body. From the looks of it, Rebekah had been dead for a while now, with her skin calloused, grey in color, and looking ready to flake off at the slightest disturbance. An onslaught of tears rushed down April's cheeks, and she was now able to identify that it hadn't been just any stick in Rebekah's chest, but it had been a knife of some sort. A dagger, the tip coated in some sort of now dried liquid.

Had her brother murdered her? It was the only thing that made logical sense. How would anybody else be able to just leave a dead body in their dining room, rotting, unless they didn't know it was there? How wouldn't you know it was there? Though, strangely, the corpse didn't stink of death and decay at all. Actually, disgustingly, it smelled like Rebekah's perfume and vanilla-scented lotion.

April's mind was reeling. Could somebody have left Rebekah there in wait for her brother? Maybe the room wasn't used a lot. The table was a mess of old papers, after all - you'd think for it to be used, it would be a lot tidier. Or maybe Rebekah _had _been dead for a while, but the killer had only just dropped her body off today. It would explain the open door. And who would just leave a knife sticking out of a dead body? She thought criminals were supposed to be at least a little smarter than that, if she'd learned anything from _Law & Order_.

She ultimately decided to remove the offending dagger. It was the least she could do for poor Rebekah. Nobody deserved to die and have their body left mangled like this. April would have to call the police, she decided. It was the right thing to do, so they could find the killer and Rebekah's friends and family could mourn her, and maybe she could move on in the afterlife, if she hadn't already. April, still crying, wondered if Rebekah was proud at her for winning Miss Mystic Falls. Maybe she was angry at April for dancing with Matt, too.

She almost vomited as the long, silver blade rose up out of the corpse, inch by inch. As soon as it had been completely removed, she threw it at the fireplace, trying not to think about having just touched it. For the moment, she just stared at dead Rebekah Mikaelson, sanitizing her hands with the bottle she always kept in her pocket. She was too traumatized to even notice how the paper cuts and hang nails were stinging.

Eventually, she placed her phone in her lap, staring absently down at the screen, 911 already dialed. What would she say? _Hello, Officer Forbes? Yeah, this is April Young. I broke into my friend's house and found her dead body. Sure, I'll hold._

April had a sneaking suspicion that that wouldn't fly.

She was so lost in her train of thought, that she barely noticed the sharp inhale that came from nearby. The first thing she thought to do was look behind her, sure Rebekah's brother had busted her. Though the doorway was empty, just as the house had been when she'd found it. Surely it hadn't been her. That left one person.

Slowly, April's eyes moved across the floor, feeling like she was in a dramatic movie, just at the height of the action, the climax. Her gaze settled on Rebekah.

Rebekah was alive.

Rebekah was alive and breathing and her eyes were darting back and forth in alarm. Her skin had cleared up, returning to its normal pale shade. Both of them locked eyes, and for a second, everything was dead silent. _Dead silent_. No pun intended. Then, it shattered like a glass window in a bad action flick as they screamed.

April backed up, flinging herself against the wall. It was happening. It was close enough to December 21st - the apocalypse. It had been like all the movies had predicted, a zombie apocalypse. Rebekah was a zombie, and April was going to be the first casualty of many.

She yanked the long, sharply pointed spear used to move the tinder and wood about from beside the mantel, aiming it at Rebekah. "Don't come any closer!" She cried, not sure if she could do it and take Rebekah's life. Again.

But Rebekah didn't _seem _like a zombie. She held up her hands to show she meant no harm, and she kept touching her chest as though she couldn't believe it. "April, it's me," She finally pleaded. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You were dead!" April shrieked hysterically. "You _are _dead!"

"April, I can explain. You're going to forget this ever happened." She tried in vain to meet April's eyes.

"No, no! You were dead! I saw it! There was a _knife _in your chest!"

This time, Rebekah's eyes widened, staring at something behind April. Someone cleared her throat, and it definitely wasn't April or Rebekah. Slowly, April turned, surveying what had to be the most gorgeous male she'd seen in her life. Damon Salvatore and his brother were hot, sure, and Jeremy and Matt were okay, but this man was on a whole different level of hot. He wasn't just movie star hot; he was Greek _god _hot.

One side of his devilishly perfect lips were quirked up, but there was something solemn in his blue eyes that didn't allow the smile to quite reach them. His sandy blonde curls begged to have fingers entwined in them, and a fine layer of stubble was dusted over his jaw.

He wasn't looking at Rebekah at all. He was staring straight at April.

"Good evening, love. Perhaps I can explain, over a cup of tea? Or do you fancy yourself more of a liquor sort of girl?"

April almost fainted.

* * *

_**A/N: Wow, another story, and still no update for **_**He Will Be Denied****_? I am at such a crossroads for that - I'm not sure where to go or what to do next! Anyway, you can thank Tumblr for this (by the way, as obligatory self-promotion, I am _themagicalgirlnextdoor _on Tumblr), as I was scrolling through and caught some inspiration for an April/Rebekah fanfiction. It was originally supposed to be a drabble, but then I started getting ideas, and as you know, ideas lead to more chapters. So now it's more of an April/Originals fanfiction, as fate would have it, but as our lovely site has no option for any more characters than two, I chose to go with the two that really started it all, and keep the romance aspect as a lingering prospect in the background. (Though I labeled it humor as well, in place of romance, because I consider it more one than the other.) And, yes, this is a tad bit crackship, in a way I think you'll be delightfully surprised by. Or, hope, rather. (Hint: Aprilol. And that is not text speak.) Anyway, reviews keep me alive and writing! Tell me what you honestly think! - xoxo Gianna/Hope_**


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